He was asked about the number of ISIS fighters killed following the April 13 dropping of the MOAB (Mother Of All Bombs) bomb dropped on ISIS fighters and underground bunkers in Afghanistan.

“Frankly, digging into tunnels to count dead bodies is probably not a good use of our troops’ time when they’re chasing down the enemy that’s still capable,” he said.

“You all know of the corrosive effect of that sort of metric back in the Vietnam War. It’s something that has stayed with us all these years.”

Mattis argued that “you don’t want to start calculating things, as far as what matters, in the crude terms of battle casualties.”

Instead, he asserted that the real marker of progress is whether or not the enemy remains a threat.

The Conservative Tribune reported that “troop morale has seen a boost since Mattis was appointed” due to his “no-nonsense approach to fighting.”

Both President Trump and Secretary Mattis understand that the issue at hand is not how many enemy troops have been killed.

That number has the potential to be used against us as the enemies of the US would use our own statistics as propaganda against us. Instead, they are focused, as well they should be, on defeating the enemy and securing the United States.

No wonder the morale of our soldiers is improving. They are finally being allowed to do what they were trained to do.